Toronto Maple Leafs left winger James van Riemsdyk congratulates goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) after beating the Nashville Predators in Toronto on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)

When searching for Valentine cards, the Maple Leafs might want to see if there’s a separate rack for Goaltender Appreciation Day.

If so, Frederik Andersen’s mail cubicle might be full.

A grateful William Nylander delivered his message personally on Wednesday, when his slot gaffe gave Nashville’s Colton Sissons a freebie.

Andersen brushed it aside, part of 50 regulation, overtime and shootout saves in the win. That left Andersen, the busiest goalie in the NHL in minutes and shots against, with a .922 save percentage — that’s fifth in the league as of Friday morning among those goalies facing at least 1,000 shots. His .927 percentage mark at even strength is No. 1.

“It was my bad and a huge save by Freddie,” Nylander said. “He stood on his head. There are so many games we could have lost that he’s keeping us in, games where we weren’t off to a good start, games when we were trying to battle back and he’s playing unreal when we have the lead.”

Andersen deflects praise like pucks, though gestures such as Nylander’s hit the right note.

“It’s nice, but I think it goes both ways,” 26-game winner Andersen said. “As when someone makes a nice block for me.

“When you can cover up a mistake for another guy — you don’t want to see mistakes, but they happen — it’s a good feeling on the team, for the camaraderie.”

If he can maintain this level of excellence, Andersen could be in the Vezina Trophy conversation by the end of the season. Should substitute Curtis McElhinney be used only in back-to-backs, Andersen will get another 20-plus starts before the playoffs.

But he’s quick to distance himself from any award talk.

“I try to be the best and you want to be among that (Vezina) category. (But) for me those (save) stats aren’t useful to look at too much. I look at goals-against and even (video) of saves. Would I have done something different or is that what I tried to do in that situation?

“There can be a game where you see 15 shots and let in three, but you wouldn’t have done anything different on the three goals.”

Perhaps the best yardstick for Andersen is reversing the team’s 15 overtime/shootout losses last season, 26 going back to the last year of the Jonathan Bernier-James Reimer tandem. Toronto has lost only five so far and won five of six shootouts compared to dropping seven of eight in 2016-17.

“I’m trying to be both aggressive and patient at the same time,” Andersen said of earning the extra point in the final tiebreaker. “A lot of things go into it.

“Maybe you’re thinking too much (about the ‘book’ on a shooter). I tried that last year. You’re going to stop and be delayed in your movements and it gets you off your game. That goes for normal games when you’re in a zone. You don’t think too much, you play.”

Andersen gets plenty of support to find his groove, from head coach Mike Babcock publicly shrugging off his two inconsistent starts to both seasons as a Leaf after he came from Anaheim, and the fine tuning that Toronto netminding instructor Steve Bernier provides.

“A goalie and a goalie coach is a special relationship,” Andersen said. “We’ve gotten to know each other better and better.

“Steve does his homework better than anyone. With the coaching staff we have here, we have high expectations of being prepared, for who we might see in the next game.

“I try to take something from every coach I’ve had and some things are more useful than others. I remember the coach I had in (Frolunda) Sweden, Michael Andreassen, was big for me, the first guy to teach me the efficient and compact way of playing.”

Frederik also cited his father Ernst, who played goal in their native Denmark, as a major influence. Those are likely Ernst’s pads that dwarf a small-fry Frederik in the pre-game video of Leafs when they were kids.

Saturday would seem set up for success for Andersen, with the Ottawa Senators in town, but they have not lost in Toronto in their past five visits and have their own unflappable Anderson in American-born Craig.

“They’ve won two in a row,” Babcock noted of the Sens beating New Jersey and Nashville this week. “Our guys know (Ottawa’s recent dominance of the Battle of Ontario) they’ve been in the games, too.”

Toronto has won the first two of its five-game home stand and will have to guard against looking ahead to Monday and a possible playoff preview against Tampa Bay.

“That’s a talented Ottawa team with guys who can score when they ant to play right and play hard,” said winger Connor Brown. “They’re amped up to play us. In the Battle of Ontario, they find another gear, the same with us to play them.”

WHO’S WHO IN BATTLE OF ONTARIO?

A new phase of the Battle of Ontario is trying to figure out which goalie is which.

Saturday’s projected starters — Frederik Andersen of the Maple Leafs and Craig Andersen of the Ottawa Senators — are separated by eight years. One is Danish, the other American; one’s bald, one red-haired.

However, similar phonetics of their last names make it tough on the fans, particularly if following Saturday’s game on radio.

“I guess I feel sorry for the announcers,” joked Andersen. “They have to figure it out. It’s a good thing we’re not spelled exactly the same. Maybe he (Anderson) is Swedish. They have the ‘o’. Who knows?

“It’s always fun with the rivalry with Ottawa and the goalies with similar names. We’ve gone back and forth a lot with some good match-ups.”

The two goalies are side by side in the NHL Guide and Record Book registry. The only other NHL goalie with the same last name was Renfrew, Ont.’s Lorne Anderson, who played three games with the 191-52 New York Rangers.

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